Tabenakatta

Tabenakatta is the plain past negative form of the Japanese verb taberu, meaning “to eat.” It is used to express that someone did not eat in a past situation, either not eating at all or not eating a specific item. In formal writing or polite conversation, the corresponding past negative polite form 食べませんでした (tabemasen deshita) is used.

Grammar and formation: taberu is a ru-verb. Its negative form in the present tense is tabenai (食べない). To form the past negative, the negative base tabenai is inflected to the past negative tabenakatta, yielding 食べなかった (tabenakatta). Thus tabenakatta literally corresponds to “did not eat” in plain form. The polite past negative is 食べませんでした.

Usage examples: 私は昼ごはんを食べなかった means “I did not eat lunch.” 彼はパンを食べなかった indicates “He did not eat bread.” When the object is omitted, tabenakatta can still convey that the speaker did not eat anything in a given period, though context often supplies the specific scope.

Notes: Tabenakatta can appear in narrative, conversational, or informal writing. Its meaning relies on context to determine whether the speaker means not eating at a particular meal, not eating any food, or not eating a specific item. It is one component of the broader system of Japanese verb conjugation, where the past negative forms contrast with the plain past positive 食べた and the present negative 食べない, as well as their polite equivalents.